Anchor Bay's Dawn Of The Dead 4-Disc Set (1 Viewer)

[Ben Silva]

Kevin and Matt you can't separate one from another. Without the movie there wouldn't be any dvd. So my discussion of the dvd has to include a discussion of the movie itself.

 

[Robert Anthony]

Dude, that's just not how this forum works. That's all they're trying to tell you.

DVD discussion will often center on possible presentation, audio tracks, extras discussion, who did what, what extra features will be on it, deleted scenes, packaging, pricing, the DVD producers past accomplishments, trailers, whatever.

These are all things that aren't in the movie, but WILL be on the DVD. Every now and again, more hardcore movie discussion will show up in a DVD thread, but at least there's a tie to the DVD release, the possibilities of different cuts showing up, commentary discussion of a certain change or scene, stuff like that, to make it pertinent to the DVD itself.

You're not doing any of that. You're talking solely about the movie. Which is cool--but there's a completely separate movies forum where straight up and down movies discussion can be had. The thread linked to is a pretty good thread, as well.

Trust, dude, no one's trying to shut you up or marginalize your opinion or anything. They're just saying coming into a thread about the DVD, the number of discs, the packaging, the special features, the commentaries, the availability and price, just to unload on the movie itself--it doesn't fit. This is mostly a thread for people interested in buying the DVD.

I guess that's the main difference. In the DVD forum, most threads are aimed at the people planning on buying the DVD in question. Thus going into the thread and telling everyone what a shitty movie you think it is doesn't go over well.

But it goes over just fine in the movies forum, Which is why people are trying to point you that way.

 

[Matt Stone]

You said it better than I could, Robert. The whole reason there are two different forums called HTF Software - Film and Documentary and Movies is because they contain different types of discussion. One is focused on critical analysis and discussion of the home video release, and the other is focused on critical analysis and discussion of the film itself. You can separate one from another.

Okay, on to the actual DVD release. I have no idea what kind of shape Anchor Bay is in, but I anxiously await most of their releases.

 

[Kevin M]

Understand now?

I suggest you read the FAQ section.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Anchor Bay's output has certainly dried up over the last year. There was indeed a time when they were pumping out many great releases every month. There were rumours of Anchor Bay being bought over, but I haven't heard anything for a while now.

The Dawn set is mightily impressive, indeed. The previous editions were disappointing non-anamorphic affairs. A Special Edition set of some kind was in order, as the film has a massive cult following and I am certain it will obtain massive sales.

 

[Matt Stone]

Well, except for the nice one disc version released in March of this year. I was wishing that I hadn't double-dipped, but being able to watch it between March and Sept was worth the 14 bucks I spent on the first release.

 

[Kevin M]

Since the main players who were responsible for the wide catalog of some of the veterans of obscure title DVD houses left those houses to form their own companies (Blue Underground from AB & Synapse from Elite) I suspect their contacts and friendships across the world may just be going over to these new houses and gradually abandoning AB.....just a theory mind you.

 

[Drew Reiber]

It's not just a theory, you're very correct. If you look up the distributors who previously owned the rights to most of the AB/BU libraries, you'll notice that Bill Lustig must carry an extremely large amount of influence over where these titles go. The BU titles so far have been wonderful (check out Deathdream! *drool*) and I eagerly await updates on their site every month. Don May's work at Synapse is also of note, as you mentioned, though the films he works on are much more obscure (the cult of cult!). Thriller: A Cruel Picture and Street Trash are probably the most interesting titles of Synapse's upcoming work, imo.

But judging by the first Dawn disc from earlier this year, I think Perry Martin is doing a terrific job as producer for AB. If the Dawn set pans out, I wouldn't be too disappointed when AB happens to receive a property over the other houses. However, with El Topo and Holy Mountain incoming, I would PREFER that Criterion gets the job. Not that big of a deal though, as it appears that AB's current DVD production focus is switching to television anyway...

 

[Anthony Clifton]

Silly question: should I wait to watch my 2-disc Day of the Dead release until I see Dawn of the Dead? I've only seen NOTLD (love the DVD) but neither of the sequels. Does watching Day without watching Dawn make sense?

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Dawn is the 2nd movie, but none of the 3 are really connected except in basic story. Each of the 3 is a separate self-contained story about a group of characters all involved in the same type is situation.

Watching Day of the Dead before seeing Dawn wouldn't be confusing at all.

None of the characters from either of the films cross over, and the whole story is set up in each one as well... I suppose it's more interesting to watch in order as each film shows the status of the zombie take-over gradually. In the original it's starting, in Dawn it's been going on for a while, and by Day it's almost completely taken over the world.

 

[Anthony Clifton]

Thanks Robert. I think I might try to see if I can rent Dawn before watching Day if possible. If not, I'll bite the bullet and enjoy Day of the Dead until the 4-disc set comes out.

 

[richardWI]

Are there any reviews online of this set?

 

[Adam Tyner]

Yes.

HorrorDVDs.com's review is the most substantial of the bunch and the only one that goes into any real detail about the differences between each version of the film.

 

[Paul_Scott]

ooops, Adam beat me to it-
DVDFile also had a review up a couple weeks back.
but i agree, HorrorDVDs has a better review up (more comprehensive), but they both give it basically rave reviews.

 

[richardWI]

Thank you!!

 

[Edward Schatz]

Bummer about the day-for-night scenes.

 

[Geoff_D]

Don't get too worried about the colour timing on Argento's cut. On both the Dutch and French DVDs, the colour in those particular shots appears to be exactly the same as AB's transfer. I wonder if HorrorDVDs.com actually compared that transfer to a previous video edition of Argento's cut, or whether they came to a simpler conclusion like "It's different from the other two versions so it must automatically be wrong".

 

[Rich Romero]

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Tim_P_76]

Here is what I found out about AB in my local paper earlier in the year:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...06#post2009406
It made front page of a local section. Don't remeber the company name at the minute.

 

[Kevin M]

This is a very good quote from the HorrorDVDs review that I think will mirror my opinion of the Argento Cut...
...I won't know until I get to see the Italian cut but I suspect that is pretty much going to be in line with my opinion.

Great Review (although I still disagree with the negative opinion of the Cannes Cut).